Journeyman level Gene to Protein Genie Biology: Genetics What is the Gene to Protein Genie?
Well, it has nothing to do with the 1960’s television show starring Barbara Eden, Larry Hagman, Bill Daily, and Hayden Rorke. As entertaining as the show was, it had nothing to do with genes and genetics! The Gene to Protein Genie
The genie appears when you have completed Case 5. It allows access to information stored on all three chromosomes of the drake genome. What’s on Chromosome 1?
This is where the genes for tail length &s shape, metallic/nonmetallic, wings, and horns are found. What’s on Chromosome 2?
This is where the genes for body forelimbs, hindlimbs, and armor are found. What’s on the X-Chromosome?
This is where the genes for dilute (which is like human pigmentation gene), and the nose spike are found. Notice that there are no genes relevant to this course that are stored on the Y-chromosome! What does the genie do?
From the bottom of this chromosome I picked “armor” and selected “compare full armor to no armor” from the drop-down menu. In the bottom panel of the window, you will notice that there is a description of each allele. At the top, the genie says to click to send the DNA sequence, which allows you to transcribe and translate DNA into amino acids. How do you transcribe and translate DNA into amino acids?
First, press the button underneath genie’s speech bubble that says “Send DNA”. A base pair sequence will appear in the two windows. Then, click on “Send Next 60 Letters”. The red- highlighted letter in the code next to the code is in the second, 60-letter sequence. This letter is where the difference is. Compare the amino acid sequences
The quick and easy way to compare the two sequences is to find the button on the right side of the screen that says “translate all”. Both panels have this button, so make sure to press both of them! The first thing that happens is the DNA “unzips”, and the mRNA comes in and copies the sequence of bases on one side of the DNA. Compare the amino acid sequences
Next, the mRNA strand moves to the ribosome (the funny, bumpy brown blob) and starts to connect to tRNA strands attached to amino acids. These amino acids start to make a chain, which will eventually become folded proteins. Compare the amino acid sequences
Hit the buttons that say “unfold protein”. Now you can see the amino acids all lined up and compare the sequences. What is the difference between the two sequences?